Comprehensive Psychological Evaluations

A Comprehensive Psychological Evaluation at the Speech, Hearing, & Learning Center is an extensive assessment conducted by a doctoral-level, licensed psychologist or license-eligible post-doctoral resident. During the evaluation process, clients are administered measures of intelligence, information processing, academic achievement, social/behavioral functioning, and attention skills. The evaluations are designed to answer the client’s (or referral source’s) specific referral question(s) and provide recommendations to improve the client’s functioning or more appropriately address his or her needs. As appropriate, diagnostic impressions are provided based on the evaluation’s results.

Autism Spectrum Evaluation

Our agency offers a multidisciplinary Autism Spectrum Evaluation Team (ASET). The team is comprised of licensed psychologists, a licensed speech language pathologist, and a licensed audiologist. Evaluations typically include the administration of the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS), a diagnostic parent interview, administration of behavior rating scales, cognitive abilities testing, adaptive behavior evaluation, academic skills testing, a speech/language evaluation, and a hearing evaluation.

ASET began seeing children for multidisciplinary evaluations in November 2008. The agency has set aside the first and third Mondays each month specifically for ASET evaluations. We strive to maintain a reasonably short waiting time for scheduling new appointments. Please call Cindy Arms at 864-331-1402 to schedule an appointment. The cost of evaluations is indicated under the Fee Schedule tab within the Psychology and Learning section of our website. Families living in Greenville County may be eligible for reduced fees on a sliding scale based on family finances through our partnership with United Way of Greenville County. Referrals are accepted from physicians, schools, tutors, or therapists, but no formal referral is required to be seen through ASET.

Abbreviated Psychological Evaluations

• School Readiness Evaluations - A school readiness evaluation is a brief assessment of school readiness and early grade placement. These evaluations are conducted for schools that contract with us to provide their entrance screenings.
• Giftedness Evaluations - A giftedness evaluation involves an evaluation of intelligence. Other areas might include information processing skills, academic skills, and social development.
• Attention and Behavior Evaluations - These evaluations focus exclusively on attention and possible social-emotional-behavioral concerns. These abbreviated evaluations are offered in situations where there is no question of cognitive abilities or learning disabilities (copies of standardized school assessments and report cards are reviewed prior to the appointment to ensure no learning differences are suspected). These assessments typically are scheduled to rule-in/out a diagnosis of ADHD and related concerns.
• Follow-up or “Re-check” Assessments – These brief evaluations are offered to returning clients in which one or more skill areas (e.g., attention, reading) that were identified as being in need of intervention in the original evaluation are being re-assessed after intervention to measure progress.
• IQ only – When requested, and as appropriate, we will simply conduct an IQ measure for a client to provide feedback regarding his or her overall level of cognitive functioning or ability.

Individual Consultation

Client and/or parent consultation is available to help clients or their parents improve learning strategies, modify unproductive behaviors, and/or improve attention. Consultations can also be scheduled with one of our psychologists to simply explore parents’ question such as: “Where should I go next?” or “Does my child’s current IEP make sense based on his/her needs?” or “Are there other available services that may help my child that I haven’t yet accessed?”

Counseling

Counseling or individual therapy for emotional or behavioral concerns are typically referred out to area therapists, as our practice is focused primarily on diagnostic and consultative services.

Educational/Learning Therapy

Educational therapy is available on an individual basis. Specialized tutoring is available in house for children with dyslexia or other language-based learning disabilities. We maintain working relationships with area tutors and educational specialists who provide intervention in other academic areas as well (e.g., Math Learning Disability or ADHD coaching).

Small Group Programs

Small group programs are offered periodically focusing on issues such as parenting skills or social skills.

Workshops

Our staff is available to provide workshops for parents and teachers relative to educational or psychological issues.